Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine received no advance warning from allies before Russia’s latest missile barrage.
The Ukrainian president, 47, made the claim Tuesday on X hours after reports surfaced that Donald Trump had threatened to cut off U.S. Intelligence sharing and weapons deliveries if Kyiv continued striking Russian energy infrastructure. Zelensky did not name any specific country as responsible for the intelligence gap, and Trump quickly denied halting the flow of information.
“We help them, but we’re really helping them get to a final answer,” the U.S. President told reporters at the White House. “We are helping them, and we are sharing intel.”
Zelensky framed the absence of early warning as a matter of life and death in his social media post. “Intelligence on Russian ballistic missile launches helps save lives, and this is one of the most critical issues. This is precisely what helps prevent people from being killed – when there is an early warning about ballistic missiles,” he wrote on X.
The strikes he referenced came after Trump announced an energy ceasefire Sunday, two days after revealing the U.S. Would import hundreds of thousands of tons of diesel fuel from Moscow to lower domestic pump prices. Russia has since attacked Ukrainian energy and critical infrastructure while Ukraine held its fire on Russian oil refineries, according to Zelensky.
“Ukraine has not carried out strikes on Russian oil refineries or the energy sector in general for the two days since the American President announced an energy ceasefire. But Russia did not heed the American President,” Zelensky insisted Tuesday.
He continued, “During this time, the Russians have attacked both our energy facilities and our critical infrastructure, sending absolutely clear signals that they have no intention of refraining from strikes on Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian president added that his country’s position remained fixed on reciprocal de-escalation. “Our position remains unchanged: Ukraine is ready for reciprocal steps toward de-escalation, and effective pressure on Russia is needed to make de-escalation happen. Wars end when the aggressor realizes that it cannot prolong the war,” he wrote on X.
The Monday night into Tuesday morning assault killed at least five civilians across Ukraine and wounded dozens more. In Kharkiv, a residential building was destroyed, killing four people and injuring 41, Zelensky said. One person died in the Fastiv district of the Kyiv region with at least two others hurt, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the regional military administration. A woman was wounded in a Russian strike on a private home in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, the city military administration reported. In Rivne, northwest Ukraine, a drone hit an educational institution, wounding 14 people, said Oleksandr Koval, head of the regional military administration. A drone also struck a residential building in Murovane, near Lviv, Mayor Andrii Sadovyi said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday its forces overnight launched coordinated strikes using ground-based precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against Ukrainian military-industrial facilities, logistics centers, railway and port infrastructure, and vessels delivering military cargo. The ministry claimed a bulk carrier headed to Mykolaiv with military cargo was hit in the Dnieper-Bug estuary, and that its air defenses shot down 604 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and the Sea of Azov.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 417 drones targeted the Moscow region, with 65 intercepted approaching the capital. A school, two private houses and a car were damaged in the Kaluga region, Gov. Vladislav Shapsha said.
Trump had claimed Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants peace more than Zelensky. That evening, departing for an Ohio rally, the U.S. President acknowledged “violations on both sides” of the purported energy ceasefire and demanded both leaders end what he called a “ridiculous war.”
“This month they lost 32,000 people in that war, and it’s ridiculous,” Trump said. “So they have to get together and get it done.”
The intelligence-sharing dispute follows reporting Monday by the Financial Times and CNN that the State Department and Pentagon warned Ukrainian and European officials U.S. Assistance would stop if Kyiv did not rein in its long-range strikes on Russian energy targets. Ukraine has hit most of Russia’s oil refineries throughout the conflict despite repeated Trump requests to refrain.
Neither Russian officials nor media have reported Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries since Trump’s Sunday announcement.